


Love and Honour

by imgilmoregirl



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, English History, F/M, First Love, Light Angst, One Shot, The Wars of the Roses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-22 22:48:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14318754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imgilmoregirl/pseuds/imgilmoregirl
Summary: Rumford had never expected to become king, but he also didn't expect to fall for the dowager of the enemy.





	Love and Honour

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Once Upon A Time or any of the characters and storylines in the show. This is just a fanwork made for fun. This is based both in the Cousin's wars books and the English history itself, which both I obviously don't own.
> 
> So I've had this dream about Rumple being Richard III and Belle being Queen Anne a few days ago and I couldn't help myself but to write this slightly pointless one-shot. Have some fun! ;)

Rumford wasn’t born to be much a thing. The fourth son of a family hardly gets to be important, but he never had great expectations as he learned to relish in following his brothers in their wars, being guided by love and honour whenever he went to. He had been to many places, fought many battles, however he always did it in order to help one of his brothers, never for himself, but it all changed in the night the English crown was restored to Henry.

It had been a massacre. Gaston’s army stricken down easily, the dead bodies filling the field and painting the grass with red. He conducted his army to the sanctuary, where the women, children and servants were certainly hiding with the intention of taking them out and murdering them too, until the moment he saw her. One of his men had just throw her on the floor and she yelled harsh things at him and everybody who attempted approaching her, the blue dress she wore now ruined by the mud, her dark hair a mess of curls. Rumford had never seen her in such disarray, but also had never noticed how strong she could be.

He walked towards the girl – because even if she was now a widow, she was just eighteen and she would always be a girl in his mind, he had seen her growing up after all – offered her a hand, and for the first time she didn’t scream, only blinked a pair of cerulean eyes in his direction, seeming to be confused with the gest. The duke smiled at her, trying to get her to trust him again.

“Lady Belle, it is good to see you again. How infortune that we ended in opposite sides of this war, but I’m sure I can convince Henry of your innocence, you were only a pawn for your father and husband’s interests. He will forgive you and I will assure you stay safe.”

Swallowing hard she nodded, finally taking his hand and rising up on her feet.

“Is my husband dead?”

“Yes,” Rumford answered, analysing her face. “I need to know if you had any children with him while you were in France.”

Considering the war, they were facing at the moment, Lady Belle knew this question could come at any moment, because any heir Gaston could have had would be a threat for Henry in the future and he surely would kill them for his own family’s safety and it only made her glad to have not conceived during their miserable year of marriage. She was a pawn, Rumford was right. Her father was obsessed in making one of his daughter’s the Queen of England, but when marrying her sister to one of Rum’s brother didn’t work well, they had fled to Paris where Gaston – her cousin - the heir of one of the royal houses lived, waiting for the moment he could finally bring an army to the country and claim the throne. Belle had been forced to marry him and it was the worse thing that had ever happened to her.

“You don’t need to worry about that,” she finally said. “He has left no heir, title or money in this Earth.”

Rumford nodded, his face a mask of relief as they continued to hear the horrible sounds of people being dragged off the sanctuary, just as what would surely have happened with Belle if he hadn’t arrived in time. But he was glad he did.

“Come on then, I’ll take you home, all by myself.”

There was a moment of hesitance. She knew him ever since she was a child. Her father, earl Maurice had once worked for the royal family, had been one of Leopold’s most beloved counsellors and soldiers, but now he was dead, just like her despicable husband and Belle was alone. She remembered how happy she was the day her mother had said they would ask for the King’s blessing so she could marry Rum, but he never allowed it. He didn’t want the kingmaker to have a way to put one of his daughter’s in his throne.

In the past, she had been foolish enough to believe she could have a nice life beside a nice man, but now she wasn’t a naïve girl anymore, she was a smart woman who would played whatever games she must to stay alive. She accepted the hand Rum was stretching out for her and followed him to the horses, decided to make her own fate.

* * *

 

Belle was taught to hate Queen Cora. Her father had splendid plans to Henry until he fell for her, a mere peasant, and made her his queen, all in secret. Maurice and the King’s relationship was never the same after that betrayal, which was why this war started, as England couldn’t have such a vile woman in its throne and her father dreamed to have one of his daughters in her place. He married her sister Briar to Stephan, but when he couldn’t crown them, both fled back home and asked forgiveness to Henry.

As she walked inside the great hall with Rumford by her side, Belle saw the whole royal family gathered in a corner, looking down at the new prince. Cora didn’t have boys until now, only two girls, Regina and Zelena and the arrival of this child was going to make her reign unbreakable. Belle bowed for them, begged for forgiveness and was designated to become her sister’s lady in waiting. She was no one now. Daughter of a traitor. Dowager of the enemy.

* * *

 

Rumford had just arrived London when he heard of his brother’s intentions of locking Lady Belle in an abbey. She was becoming a problem, asking for her part of her father’s fortune and wishing to marry again so she could leave her sister’s house, but Stephan didn’t wish to allow it, because he wanted all of her money and, if they sent them to the abbey, he could get it easily, but Rum couldn’t allow this to happen.

He knew the castle very well and found the secret passage to Belle’s bedchambers, paying the guards for their silence as he broke in, startling the girl who had been reading a book by the window.

“Rum?” Belle questioned with wide eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“Taking you away from this prison…” he trailed off seeing the hesitation in her eyes and adding: “Unless you don’t want to.”

She stood up, casting her book aside and walking towards him, analysing the duke’s face in search of any clue that he was just playing with her, but he looked extremely serious and determinate, which made her heart flip with the kind of hope she didn’t get to feel ever since her family fled from England and she discovered she would soon have to become a tough woman and bury that silly girl she once had been, forever.

“Oh, yes, I do,” the lady guaranteed. “But, where should I go to? I have no money, no lands and no family.”

He shook his head and took her hand in his. The gentleness of his touch brought some kind of blush to her cheeks that she had never experienced before – not even at the times she dreamed with her father’s promise of making her Rumford’s wife.

“My darling, if you accept, I’ll take you to a church right now and become your husband,” he proposed. “You’ll be equal to your sister. A duchess, and I’ll retrieve your fortune. Now, will you marry me?”

There it was, the chance she was waiting for, to change her whole life, and do it herself. Belle allowed a soft kiss to fill her lips as she nodded to him, several times, unable to contain her excitement.

“Yes!”

Leaning forward, he kissed her lips and she realised that she had never been kissed that way, with love, passion and kindness.

* * *

 

Most people thought that Rum shouldn’t feel happy with what he had. When you’re Royal, you always want ascend, get a better title, earn more gold, even attempt to become the ruler of the country, but he didn’t want any of those things, because he relished in the life he acquired.

Once he and Stephan had divided the kingmaker’s daughters’ fortune between themselves, he took his new wife as far away from London as he could without offending his brother and they settled on her old home. Belle didn’t want to attend court never again if she could, of course she knew that eventually they would have to, but for now she was just going to enjoy those first blissful weeks of their marriage.

Belle had, unfortunately, never been loved. She was forced into her first marriage, her husband wasn’t gentle or kind, he barely talked to her and they never shared one good moment for her remembrance. However, things were fairly different with Rum. He adored her, he taught her what being in love was and everything he did was for her, so even when he said they needed to go back to London for the Christmas celebration, she didn’t complain, because she knew her husband would protect her from anything.

It didn’t make Cora be any nicer to her. The woman hated her father and he hated her, which obviously made her hate Belle nonetheless and the fact she had married Rum without the King’s blessing, only got her angrier. But none of them cared for it, they were happy and it was all that mattered.

Rumford’s heir, Gideon, came just after they celebrated their first wedding anniversary. He was a very loved boy with a great future ahead and neither Rum nor Belle could ever manage to stop spoiling him.

For a couple of years everything was nice and calm, until it came the day in which King Henry died and suddenly nothing was the same, because a big power Rum never thought he could have was within his grasp and he found out that sometimes people choose it over love, but that was his biggest mistake, because in the day he was crowd King of England, he didn’t know he was signing up to lose everything he had, including the woman he most loved in his whole life. However, for a while, as Belle - wearing a gorgeous golden gown -  took his hand and they walked along the great hall, with their son following them, he ruled their world and he had the illusion that he had finally reached greatness and it was enough.

At least, for a while.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry for any writing mistakes, English is not my first language.  
> Thank you so much for reading. Please, share your thoughts with me if you want to.


End file.
